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El Salvador is a small Central American country of just over 6 million people. It has a rich, indigenous cultural heritage and its capital, San Salvador, is one of the most iconic cities in the world. Indeed, it’s known as the landfall of Christopher Columbus in 1492.
Besides its rich history, El Salvador is also known for being the first crypto-friendly country in the world. In fact, El Salvador was one of the first countries in the region to declare its intent to become a crypto nation. They’ve recently adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, kicking off what experts predict will be a string of countries accepting cryptocurrency as legitimate means of payment.
The opportunities for crypto are ripe in El Salvador. The country is home to one of the largest populations of artists and creators outside of Silicon Valley. Now, you can buy virtual lands in El Salvador as NFT “tiles” on a digital replica of Earth, via the Next Earth project.
What is an NFT?
An NFT, or Non-Fungible Token, is a digital asset that represents ownership of real-world or digital assets such as trading cards, artwork, or even virtual properties.
The excitement around NFTs is not only limited to gamers and blockchain enthusiasts but has also attracted the attention of serious investors and entrepreneurs. Indeed, Visa recently purchased a Cryptopunk NFT for $165,000, and NFT enthusiasts have bought nearly $2 million of virtual real estate through Next Earth.
How to Buy Virtual Land NFTs
Since August 2021, Next Earth has been selling virtual land NFTs from a map of Earth. More recently, they’ve launched an NFT marketplace, such that users can buy and sell NFTs directly with each other.
Buying an NFT represents ownership of virtual land parcels within Next Earth’s metaverse. Now that the NFT marketplace is live, anyone who owns BNB (the Binance Smart Chain token) can effortlessly buy virtual real estate.
What is the Metaverse?
Metaverse is a term used to describe a shared digital space where people spend their time interacting with each other digitally. One day, it will consist of interconnected virtual worlds which are collectively part of one large metaverse ecosystem. The online metaverse spaces will have avatars that can interact with each other just like in the real world.
In fact, some companies and organizations have also created their version of the online metaverse – a “digital twin” – which replicates how they would look if they were on the physical (real) earth while still allowing them to operate within the digital space.
The major players in this field include Facebook, Microsoft, and Google, who hope to make money by allowing users access to personalized versions of these spaces. These companies will likely allow members to buy virtual goods that help improve social media presence such as clothing brands or virtual real estate, among many others. However, these are all centralized, and Next Earth is the first decentralized virtual replica of Earth.
Why El Salvador is the Perfect Place for an NFT
El Salvador has a rich culture and history, making it the perfect location to buy an NFT. The country also has a strong commitment to protecting its indigenous people as well as the environment. After all, El Salvador was strongly influenced by the clash of the ancient Mesoamerica and the medieval Iberian Peninsula.
Beyond being historically interesting, El Salvador is a beautiful country with incredible natural beauty – welcome to its virtual counterpart! Indeed, Next Earth gives users access to amazing places beyond El Salvador, whether you’d like to take a virtual trip to New York City or even Hawaii. One can only imagine what the future of the metaverse will bring when users can finally truly own their digital assets.
Photo by Enrique Alarcon on Unsplash
